Indexing: Gary Lutz, cable television books, Chad Harbach, and more

I guess I’ve really missed out by not reading The Art of Fielding. Aside from the dozen people who’ve suggested I pick it up, the Keith Gessen article in Vanity Fair was really the breaking point. I’ve obviously fucked up on several levels, and it is time to rectify this.

Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks future bestseller, I Want My MTV (Dutton), has occupied a good portion of my week. It’s the second oral history of a cable television network I’ve read this year, and frankly, between this and the ESPN book, I don’t see how it could get any more interesting. CNN? USA? I could see some comprehensive history on the beginnings of HBO being worth a read, but beyond that, 2011 will be known as the year of the best cable television books.

I did greatly enjoy Melville House’s edition of Guy de Maupassant’s The Horla, which collects three different versions of the same story, tracing its evolution. It’s both entertaining and — for students of craft — particularly interesting, and the story, especially in its final version, is especially unsettling.